JPH07105106A - Multipoint electronic conferencing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Modified) [Purpose] A user interface that makes it easy for users to recognize multiple conference spaces is realized, and the voice of any conference can be heard by appropriately controlling the audio of multiple conferences. Provided is an electronic conferencing device that allows a user to easily recognize whether or not the user is present. [Composition] A window for each electronic conference is provided, and the conference control device 20 detects a change in the window input right due to a window switching operation from the input device 30, and activates the electronic conference corresponding to the window for which the window input right is acquired. To be in a good state. Audio for inactive meetings should be played at a low volume. Further, by displaying a call window on the image output device 10, the forced call to the inactive conference participants is notified.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a conference user interface in an electronic conference apparatus using a plurality of workstations or personal computers connected by a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a so-called electronic conference system has been known in which a plurality of people hold a conference by using a plurality of workstations or personal computers connected by a network. In such an electronic conferencing system, for example, the face of the person who is in the meeting is displayed on a display such as a workstation, files are transferred, and a voice conversation is performed with the person who is participating in the meeting. Things are possible.

[0003]

However, in the conventional electronic conference system, even if it is not possible to participate in a plurality of conferences at the same time or it is possible to participate in a plurality of conferences at the same time due to the restriction on the representation of the conference space. There is a problem that it is not easy to recognize the conference space or switch between the conference spaces.

In addition, in an electronic conference system capable of participating in a plurality of conferences, the voices of a plurality of conferences are heard at the same time, so it is difficult to know who is speaking in which conference. That is, in the conventional electronic conferencing system, when the conference audio is reproduced, it is not possible to select which conference audio is to be reproduced, so that the audio of the currently inactive conference is reproduced at the same volume. There is also a problem that if the voice of an inactive conference is stopped, even if an emergency call is made from the conference, the voice cannot be heard because the sound cannot be heard.

An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic conferencing apparatus that realizes a user interface that allows a user to easily recognize a plurality of conference spaces.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic conferencing apparatus in which the user can easily recognize which conference audio is being heard by appropriately controlling the audio of a plurality of conferences. is there.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic conferencing apparatus which can receive a call from other participants in an inactive conference at any time.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is an electronic conferencing apparatus for conducting an electronic conference by exchanging various kinds of information with other electronic conferencing apparatuses connected to a network. Therefore, when participating in multiple electronic conferences, a window is provided for each electronic conference, and each window is provided with means for displaying a participant display regarding the participants participating in the corresponding electronic conference. Characterize.

[0009] In addition, the one capable of transmitting and receiving voice information is characterized in that the conference voice of a conference that is currently mainly involved and the conference voice of a conference that is not currently involved are reproduced at different volumes. "Meetings primarily involved"
Is referred to as an "active" conference in the embodiments described later. In the embodiment described later, the “mainly uninvolved conference” is called a “inactive” conference. Specifically, by increasing the volume of the conference in the active state and decreasing the volume of the conference in the inactive state (including the case where the volume is 0), the user can concentrate on the voice of the currently active conference. did.

Further, according to the present invention, the electronic conference corresponding to the window for which the window input right is acquired is defined as the conference mainly involved in accordance with the change of the window input right for the window provided for each electronic conference, and To make the electronic conference corresponding to the window that has not acquired the input right the conference that is not mainly involved,
It is characterized by switching the state of each electronic conference.

That is, in the electronic conference system of the present invention, different windows are displayed on the screen for each conference, and the conference is switched by switching the input right to this window. This window is called a virtual conference room window in the embodiment described later.

As a participant display displayed in a window provided for each electronic conference, it is preferable to display a moving image or a still image of the participant. Further, as a participant display, a status display mark for identifying whether or not the participant is currently mainly involved in the electronic conference may be displayed in the electronic conference device of the participant. In this case, when a conference that is mainly involved and a conference that is not mainly involved are switched, the state change accompanying the switching is notified to another electronic conference device,
The device that has received the notification may display the status display mark of the participant based on the notification.

Further, when a call is made from another participant who is participating in the inactive conference, another conference is activated by ringing the chime or displaying a display notifying the call on the screen. Calls should be available when active.

[0014]

In the present invention, for example, a user interface program for controlling an electronic conference detects a change in the window input right by a user's operation, and outputs only the audio of the conference corresponding to the virtual conference room window having the window input right. Can be played. However, it is preferable that the voices of other conferences are also set in advance and played at a low volume (including the case where the volume is 0).

If none of the virtual conference room windows has the input right, the audio of all conferences is reduced.

Further, when the window input right is lost and the volume of the conference voice changes as a result, the other conference participants are notified of the change in the window input right through the conference control program, for example. On the side of the other conference participants who have received the notification, a status display mark is displayed so that it can be known whether or not the participant of the notification source is actively participating in the conference.

It is conceivable that a call from another participant may not be heard when the conference voice is reduced. In particular, when the volume when not active is set to 0, the voices of other participants cannot be heard. Therefore, even in such a case, if another participant performs a calling operation, it is possible to notify that there is a calling by screen display or the like regardless of the current reproduction volume.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a multipoint electronic conference system which is an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a system configuration and screen display of an electronic conferencing system using the present invention. In this example,
3 shows a state in which three participants A, B and C and two participants A and D are holding a conference, respectively. Participant A,
B and C are in conference 1, and participants A and D are in conference 2.

Here, the operation of the system of this embodiment will be described using the screen 10-A of the participant A.

Each conference participant uses one conference control device 20. In FIG. 1, the participant A is the conference control device 2
Participant B uses conference control device 20-B, and so on, respectively.

The conference control device 20 includes an input device 40 such as a keyboard and a mouse, an image input device 50 such as a video camera, a voice input device 60 such as a microphone, a voice output device 70 such as a speaker, and an image output such as a display. The device 10 is connected.

The conference controller 20 is connected to the network 30 and can communicate with other conference controllers. As a network, FDDI (Fiber Distri
LAN (Local Area Net) such as buted Data Interface
work) is used.

The voices of the conference participants are input from the voice input device 60, packet-encoded by the conference control device 20 and broadcast on the network 30. The voice packet received by the conference control device 20 from the network 30 is decoded by the conference control device 20 and output from the voice output device 70.

The image of the conference participants is input from the image input device 50, packet-encoded by the conference control device 20 and broadcast on the network 30. The image packet received by the conference control device 20 from the network 30 is decoded by the conference control device 20 and output from the image output device 10.

On the image output device 10, the conference control device 2
Various windows displayed by 0 are displayed. The user performs a conference-related operation using the virtual conference room window displayed on the image output device 10. The participants participating in the conference are displayed in each virtual conference room window.

For example, in the example of FIG. 1, the screen 1 of the participant A
0, the virtual conference room window 200 of the conference room 1 is displayed, and the participants B and C are displayed in the virtual conference room window 200. Further, the virtual conference room window 300 of the conference room 2 is displayed, and the participant D is displayed in the virtual conference room window 300.

In this embodiment, the participants are displayed by displaying the moving images of the participants photographed by the image input device 50 on the network 30.
You can see a video of what you sent through. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and when the bandwidth of the network 30 is small, a still image of the participant prepared in advance may be used. Also, one participant displayed in a video,
Other participants may be mixed, such as being displayed as a still image. In the present embodiment, the name of the other party is displayed below the other party image in order to more reliably identify the conference participants.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration (mainly software configuration) of the conference controller 20.

The image input control unit 110 includes the image input device 5
The input from 0 is received and sent to the image coding unit 105.
The image coding unit 105 digitizes the image signal and sends it to the communication data transmission unit 100 as a data packet.

The voice input control unit 120 includes the voice input device 6
The signal from 0 is received and sent to the voice encoding unit 115.
The voice encoder 115 digitizes the voice signal and sends it to the communication data transmitter 100 as a data packet.

The input control unit 125 controls the input device 40, receives a user's operation input, and sends it to the user interface control unit 135.

The communication data transmitter 100 transmits the received data to the network 30.

The communication data receiving section 160 receives the data sent through the network 30 and sends the data to the module corresponding to the received data type.

The image decoding section 145 converts the data packet received from the communication data receiving section 160 into an analog form and sends it to the image output control section 150. Image output control unit 150
Sends the image signal received from the image decoding unit 145 to the image synthesizing unit 155.

The voice decoding unit 165 converts the data packet received from the communication data receiving unit 160 into an analog signal and sends it to the voice output control unit 170. Audio output control unit 170
Causes the audio output device 70 to reproduce the audio signal received from the audio decoding unit 165.

The window control unit 140 displays windows other than images. The image combining unit 155 outputs the image from the image output control unit 150 and the window control unit 14
Image output device 1
Display at 0.

The conference control unit 130 controls the operations of the above-mentioned modules in cooperation with each other, thereby interlocking the window operation and the conference voice control, which is a feature of the conference control apparatus 20, and forcing the operation from an inactive conference. A call function is realized.

The user interface control unit 135 analyzes the input operation by the user, gives an operation instruction to the conference control unit 130, and displays the operation instruction from the conference control unit 130 on the screen 10 through the window control unit 140. Controls to notify the user.

The conference control unit 130 transmits a control message through the communication data transmission unit 100 or exchanges a communication data reception unit in order to exchange information with another conference control device 20 connected to the network 30 as necessary. A control message is received through 160.

In FIG. 2, arrows indicate the direction of data flow between the modules. Although omitted in the figure, the conference control unit 130 can send a control message to each of the other modules to give an operation instruction. For example, the conference controller 130
The sound output control unit 170 can be instructed to change the volume.

FIG. 3 shows a display example of the virtual conference room window 200.

In the virtual conference room window 200 of the conference 1, a participant display 210 of the conference participant B and a participant display 220 of the conference participant C are displayed. Of course, these displays will vary depending on who is participating in the conference. Here, the case of the connection example of FIG. 1 is shown.

Below each participant display, a voice reproduction status display mark, a call button, and a participant name are displayed. For example, below the participant display 210 of participant B, a voice reproduction status display mark 211 and a call button 21 are displayed.
2 and the participant name 213 are displayed.

The voice reproduction status display mark 211 indicates whether the participant is actively participating in this conference. The state of actively participating means that the participant is listening to the audio of the conference. If the audio playback status display mark is not active, it indicates that the participant is not listening to the audio of this conference. It should be noted that not saying that the conference voice is not heard includes not only the case where the conference voice is not reproduced at all but also the case where the conference voice is heard at a preset low volume. In the following, these differences will be referred to as "listening" and "not listening" without making a distinction.

In the example of FIG. 3, the voice reproduction state display mark 2
11 are active. That is, the sound reproduction state display mark 211 is a figure showing that sound is being output from the speaker. Therefore, the participant A looking at this screen can know that the participant B (Tanaka) is listening to the audio of the conference 1. Similarly, the participant C (Suzuki) does not listen to the voice of the conference 1 because the voice reproduction state display mark 221 is inactive (a figure showing that no sound is output from the speaker). I understand.

On the other hand, the screen 10 also displays a virtual conference room window 300 of another conference. The virtual conference room window 300 is not in the foreground on the screen, that is, there is no window input right, so the participant A looking at this screen is inactive. In this state, even if this conference 2 is active on the side of the participant D (Yamada) of the conference 2, the voice of the participant D (Yamada) cannot be heard by the participant A. Also, the voice of the participant A cannot be heard by the participant D.

In FIG. 3, the voice reproduction state display mark 3 of the participant D (Yamada) of the conference 2 in the virtual conference room window 300 is displayed.
It can be seen that this participant D is listening to the audio of this conference 2 because 11 is active, but since the conference 2 is inactive in the participant A looking at this screen, the participant D is Will not be heard by participant A.

As described above, in the example of FIG. 3, only the voice of the participant B (Tanaka) participating in the conference 1 is reproduced, and the voices of the other participants are not reproduced. Become.

As described above, in this system, among the other participants of the conference that are active in the device used by a certain participant, those participants are also actively participating in the conference. Only the voices of the participants are played back. Further, whether or not the other party is actively participating in the conference can be easily determined by looking at the voice reproduction status display mark displayed in the virtual conference room window.

FIG. 4 shows details of the participant display. The participant display 210, the voice reproduction status display mark 211, and the participant name 213 are as described above.

The call button 212 is used for forcibly calling an inactive participant. This button 2
By pressing 12, it becomes possible to know the call from the participant who pressed the call button even when the participant in the participant display is not listening to the audio of the conference. The call notification will be described later with reference to FIG.

FIGS. 5 to 7 are views for explaining the screens when switching the active conference.

In FIG. 5, the virtual conference room window 200 of the conference 1 is in the foreground, and the conference 1 is active in the participant A. Since the voice reproduction state display mark of the participant B (Tanaka) of the conference 1 is in the active state, it is understood that the participant B is listening to the voice of the conference 1. Since the participant A is also actively participating in the conference 1, the voice of the participant A is transmitted as a message to the conference 1. Therefore, the participants A and B can talk with each other by voice.

On the other hand, since the voice reproduction status display mark of the participant C (Suzuki) of the conference 1 is inactive, the participant C does not hear the voice of the conference 1 and the participant D.
It is understood that the voice of the participant C cannot be heard from the participant A because the remark in the conference 1 is not transmitted.

In FIG. 5, since the virtual conference room window 300 of the conference 2 is on the lower side, the conference 2 of the participant A is displayed.
Is inactive. Participant D of Conference 2
Since the voice reproduction state display mark of (Yamada) is in the active state, it can be seen that this participant D is listening to the voice of the conference 2. In addition, the voice of the conference 2 is transmitted from the participant D. However, as described above, since the participant A is inactive in the conference 2,
Participant A cannot hear the sound of Participant D even when receiving the audio data regarding (including the case of reproducing at a low volume).

In FIG. 6, on the contrary, the virtual conference room window 300 of the conference 2 is in the foreground and is in the active state. The operation of the conference controller when the state of FIG. 5 changes to the state of FIG. 6 is as follows.

First, it is assumed that the user moves the window input right from the virtual conference room window 200 to the virtual conference room window 300 using the input device 30 and activates the conference 2. Then, the input control unit 125 detects the movement of the input right and notifies the user interface control unit 135 of it.

The user interface controller 135
By referring to the window management table 600 as shown in FIG. 9, the window identifier of the window for which the input right is obtained is searched to obtain the conference identifier of the activated conference.

For example, if the window identifier of the window that has acquired the input right is W2, it can be known from the entry 602 of the window management table 600 that the conference identifier of the activated conference is C2. In the window management table 600, an entry 606 having a window identifier of 0 to
Reference numeral 610 indicates an unused entry.

Further, the user interface controller 13
5 updates the conference status management table 620 shown in FIG. The conference state management table 620 of FIG. 10 is a table including entries in which the conference identifier of the conference currently opened by the conference control device and the state of the conference are associated with each other.

In FIG. 10, it can be seen from the entry 621 that the state of the conference corresponding to the conference identifier C1 is 1, that is, active. Therefore, the conference corresponding to the conference identifier C1 is made inactive, that is, the state 0, and at the same time, the entry 622 of the conference identifier C2 which has just become active is updated to the state 1 to activate the conference corresponding to the conference identifier C2. Conference status management table 620
Thus, the entries 623 to 630 with the conference identifier 0 are unused entries.

Further, the user interface controller 1
35 sends a participant status change notification message to notify the other meeting participants of the change in the meeting status. That is, the other device is notified that the conference 1 is inactive and the conference 2 is active in the participant A. This notification is sent via the conference controller 130.
This is performed by sending a control message for notifying the communication data transmitting unit 100 of the state change.

In the device on the side that has received the participant state change notification message, the user interface controller 13
5 updates the conference participant management table 640 shown in FIG. 11 according to the message. The conference participant management table 640 is a table provided and managed for each conference, and has information indicating whether the conference is active on the side of the participants participating in the conference.

FIG. 11 shows the conference participant management table 640 of the conference 1. From the entry 641, the participant name of the participant having the participant identifier of 1 is Tanaka, and the condition of the participant is 1 or active. That is, the participant Tanaka is actively participating in the conference 1. From the entry 642, the participant name of the participant with the participant identifier of 2 is Suzuki, and the state is 0, that is, the inactive state. That is, the participant Suzuki is not actively participating in the conference 1. This table 640
According to the information of each entry of, the audio reproduction state display mark of each participant's display is determined. Entries 643 to 6 with a participant identifier of 0 in the conference participant management table 640
Reference numeral 50 indicates an unused entry.

Conference 2 is now active in participant A and conference 1 is inactive in participant A.
Since the voice reproduction state display mark of each participant displayed on the device of (1) indicates the state of each participant's side, it is not changed.

Finally, the user interface controller 1
The voice output control unit 170 35 lowers the volume of the voice of the participant of the conference identifier C1, which is now inactive.
Instruct. Furthermore, the user interface controller 1
The voice output controller 17 turns up the volume of the voice of the conference participant of the newly activated conference identifier C2.
Instruct 0.

As a result of the above processing, in the state of FIG. 6, only the voice of the participant D of the conference 2 is being reproduced.
In addition, the voice of the participant A will be transmitted as a statement to the conference 2.

In FIG. 7, a window 400 for personal work unrelated to the conference is displayed in the foreground. At this time, both the conference 1 and the conference 2 are inactive.

Even when the state of FIG. 6 changes to the state of FIG. 7, the conference control unit 130 and the user interface control unit 135 perform the same operation as described above. As a result, in FIG. 7, all the conferences are inactive, so that the voices of the participants of all the conferences are reproduced at a low volume.

FIG. 8 is a display example of a screen of a participant called by using a call button from a conference participant of another device. Here, the case where the participant D calls the participant A from the state of FIG. 5 is shown.

The virtual conference room window of the conference 2 is displayed on the device used by the participant D, and the participant display of the participant A is displayed in the virtual conference room window. Participant D clicks the call button of the participant display of Participant A with the mouse,
The participant A is called from. Figure 8
At this time, the call display window 500 displayed on the screen of the device of the participant A is shown.

As shown in FIG. 8, the call display window 500 displays a message 510 including the name of the calling participant and the name of the conference in which the calling participant is participating. Participant A looks at call window 500 and presses OK button 520 to confirm the call.

Thereafter, the participant A may accept the call by moving the window input right to the virtual conference room window 300 of the called conference 2, or may ignore the call and continue the work currently being performed. Good. in this way,
The present system does not specify how the called participant reacts when the call display window 500 is displayed.

Of course, depending on the purpose of the system, it may be desirable to automatically activate the called conference room when the call is answered. At that time, the conference control unit 130 can move the virtual conference room window 300 to the front through the user interface control unit 135.

Further, instead of displaying the call display window 500, the call may be notified by activating the virtual conference room window of the conference room where the call is made. Alternatively, the call may be notified by a method such as sounding a specific sound such as a chime sound for notifying that the call has been made, while keeping the display as it is.

Next, the flow of processing of the user interface control unit 135 and the conference control unit 130 which carry out the above-mentioned operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 to 16.

FIG. 12 shows the flow of processing of the user interface controller 135. The user interface control unit 135 repeats the processing described below.

First, the user interface controller 13
5 reads the data from the input control unit 125 or the conference control unit 130 (step 700). If the read data is the data from the input control unit 125 (step 70)
5) The following steps 715 to 755 are performed.

First, it is checked whether the read data is the data for notifying the change of the window input right (step 715). If so, by searching the window management table (FIG. 9) 600 with the input right transfer source window identifier included in the data, the conference identifier corresponding to the transfer source window identifier is obtained (step 725). . The conference identifier obtained here is C.

Next, it is determined whether the conference having the conference identifier C is in the active state by the conference state management table 620 (FIG. 10).
Is searched for (step 730). If the conference is in the active state, the conference is deactivated (step 745).

Next, the window management table (FIG. 9) 600 is searched by the input right move destination window identifier included in the data to obtain the conference identifier corresponding to the move destination window identifier (step 73).
5). The conference identifier obtained here is newly designated as C.

Next, it is determined whether the conference with the conference identifier C is in the active state, the conference state management table 620 (FIG. 10).
Is searched for (step 740). If the conference is not in the active state, the conference is activated (step 750).

Next, it is checked whether or not the read data is the data indicating the pressing of the call button (step 71).
8). If so, a call notification process is performed to the conference participants corresponding to the pressed call button (step 753).

Next, it is checked whether the read data is input to the conference room window (step 720). If so, a process for operating the conference room window is performed (step 755).

Next, the read data is the conference controller 13
It is checked whether the data is from 0 (step 710).
If so, the following steps 760 to 780 are performed.

First, it is checked whether or not the read data is the participant state change notification message 800 as shown in FIG. 13 (step 760).

Participant status change notification message 8 in FIG.
00 is a message transmitted from another participant when the state of participation in the conference (whether it is active or inactive) is changed on the side of the other participant. The participant status change notification message 800 includes a message type 805, a message length 810, a conference identifier 815, and a participant identifier 82.
Includes 0 and state change flag.

Information indicating that this message is a participant state change notification message is set in the message type 805. The message length 810 is the length of the message. The conference identifier 815 and the participant identifier 820 indicate for which participant in which conference there was a state change. The state change flag 825 is set to 0 when changing from active to inactive, and set to 1 when changing from inactive to active.

In step 760, when the read data is the participant status change notification message 800, the status change flag 825 in the notification message 800 is set to 1
It is checked whether or not (step 765). If so, the conference identifier 815 included in the notification message 800.
The participant corresponding to the participant identifier 820 of the conference corresponding to is activated (step 775). That is, the entry state column of the participant state management table 640 (FIG. 11) is changed from 0 to 1, and the voice reproduction display mark is a pattern indicating the active state (a pattern indicating that a sound is being output from the speaker). ).

In step 765, the state change flag 8
If 25 is not 1, the participant corresponding to the participant identifier 820 of the conference corresponding to the conference identifier 815 included in the notification message 800 is deactivated (step 780). That is, the entry state column of the participant state management table 640 (FIG. 11) is changed from 1 to 0, and the voice reproduction display mark is a pattern indicating an inactive state (indicating that no sound is output from the speaker. Design)

Next, it is checked whether the read data is a call notification from another conference participant (step 7).
67). If so, the call window 500 as shown in FIG. 8 is displayed (step 773).

Next, the other messages are processed (step 770).

FIG. 14 shows step 745 in FIG.
The details of the process are shown below. User interface controller 1
When 35 activates the conference corresponding to the conference identifier C, first, the conference state management table 620 (FIG. 10).
, The state of the entry corresponding to the conference identifier C is 1,
That is, it is activated (step 850). next,
Conference participant management table 640 corresponding to conference identifier C
(FIG. 11) is searched and the following steps 865 to 875 are performed for all the participants (step 85).
5).

First, it is checked whether the conference participants are active (step 865). If active,
The following steps 870 and 875 are performed. That is, the audio decoding unit 165 is instructed to increase the volume (step 870), and the image decoding unit 145 is instructed to reproduce the moving image (step 875).

Then, after step 855, a participant state change notification message 800 (FIG. 13) for notifying another device that the conference corresponding to the conference identifier C has been activated in this participant, is created, The conference controller 130 is instructed to transmit the message (step 860).

FIG. 15 shows step 750 in FIG.
The details of the process are shown below. User interface controller 1
When the 35 deactivates the conference corresponding to the conference identifier C, first, the conference state management table 620 (see FIG.
In 0), the state of the entry corresponding to the conference identifier C is set to 0, that is, inactive (step 880).
Next, the conference participant management table 640 (FIG. 11) corresponding to the conference identifier C is searched, and the following steps 895 to 905 are performed for all the participants (step 885).

First, it is checked whether the conference participants are active (step 895). If active,
The following steps 900 and 905 are performed. That is, the audio decoding unit 165 is instructed to reduce the volume (step 900), and the image decoding unit 145 is instructed to make the moving image a still image (step 905).

Then, after step 885, a participant state change notification message 800 (FIG. 13) is created to notify other devices that the conference corresponding to the conference identifier C has become inactive in this participant. , And instructs the conference controller 130 to send the message (step 890).

FIG. 16 is a diagram for explaining the flow of processing of the conference controller 130. The conference controller 130 repeats the processing of steps 910 to 930 below.

First, the conference controller 130 has the user interface controller 135 or the communication data receiver 160.
Read data from (step 910). If the read data is the data from the user interface controller 135 (step 915), the data is sent to the communication data transmitter 100 (step 925). If the read data is the data from the communication data receiving unit 160 (step 92)
0), and sends the data to the user interface controller 135 (step 930).

According to this embodiment, since the audio of the corresponding conference is reproduced in association with the movement of the input right of the window,
The user can easily recognize which conference is currently active by both the screen display and the voice change.

In the present embodiment, the conference voice is controlled in conjunction with the window input right, and the images are also controlled in conjunction, so that only the image of the active conference is reproduced as a moving image, and the image of the inactive conference is displayed. Although a still image is used, only the conference voice may be controlled in conjunction with the window input right.

[0104]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to participate in a plurality of conferences by using the electronic conferencing device on the network. In that case, since a window is provided for each conference, the user can recognize each conference and the participants separately. That is, a user interface in which a user can easily recognize a plurality of conference spaces is realized.

Further, since the state of participation in the electronic conference is switched in association with the switching of the input right of the window, it is possible to switch a plurality of conference spaces by a simple operation. Since the volume of the conference audio of the active conference and the volume of the conference audio of the inactive conference are made different, the user can easily recognize which conference audio is being listened to. Furthermore, even if the conference voice is not heard, it is possible to receive a call from another participant, so that the conference can proceed efficiently.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration and a screen display example of an electronic conference system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram mainly showing a software configuration of a conference control device of the electronic conference system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a virtual conference room window according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a participant display according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram (part 1) explaining a screen when switching an active conference.

FIG. 6 is a diagram (part 2) explaining a screen when switching an active conference.

FIG. 7 is a diagram (part 3) explaining a screen when switching an active conference.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a forced call display using a call button.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a window management table.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conference status management table.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the configuration of a participant status management table.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a user interface control unit of the system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing the structure of a participant status change notification message.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the detailed processing flow of step 745 in FIG. 12;

15 is a diagram showing the detailed processing flow of step 750 in FIG.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a conference control unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Image output device, 20 ... Conference control device, 30 ... Network, 40 ... Input device, 50 ... Image input device, 60
... voice input device, 70 ... voice output device, 200 ... virtual conference room window, 210 ... participant image, 211 ... voice reproduction status display mark, 212 ... call button, 500 ...
Call display window, 600 ... Window management table, 620 ... Conference state management table, 640 ... Conference participant state management table.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Internal reference number FI Technical indication location H04M 3/56 C 11/06 7406-5K H04N 7/15 (72) Inventor Masami Kameda Yokohama, Kanagawa 5030 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Ltd. Software Development Division, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Toshimitsu Hayashi 1099, Ozenji, Aso-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Inside Hitachi Systems Development Laboratory, Ltd.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An electronic conferencing apparatus for conducting an electronic conference by exchanging various kinds of information with another electronic conferencing apparatus connected to a network, wherein each electronic conference apparatus participates in a plurality of electronic conferences. A multipoint electronic conferencing apparatus, characterized in that a window is provided for each conference, and each window is provided with means for displaying a participant display relating to the participants participating in the corresponding electronic conference. 2. The multipoint electronic conferencing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for transmitting and receiving audio information to and from the other electronic conferencing apparatus, and a conference audio of a conference currently mainly involved and a current audio. A multipoint electronic conferencing apparatus comprising: means for reproducing a conference voice of a conference that is not mainly involved in the conference at a different volume. 3. The multipoint electronic conferencing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: an electronic device corresponding to the window for which the window input right is acquired in response to a change in the window input right for a window provided for each electronic conference. A means is provided for switching the state of each electronic conference so that the conference is mainly the conference involved and the electronic conference corresponding to the window for which the window input right is not acquired is the conference not mainly involved. A multipoint electronic conference device characterized by: 4. The multipoint electronic conferencing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the participant display displayed on the window provided for each electronic conference is the electronic conferencing apparatus of the participant. A multipoint electronic conferencing device comprising a status display mark for identifying whether or not the participant is currently mainly involved in the electronic conference. 5. The multipoint electronic conferencing apparatus according to claim 4, further, when a conference that is mainly involved in the own device and a conference that is not mainly involved are switched, a state change accompanying the switching. A multipoint electronic conferencing apparatus comprising means for notifying other electronic conferencing apparatuses of the above. 6. The multipoint electronic conferencing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for forcibly calling a participant who is not listening to the conference voice at any time. A multipoint electronic conference device comprising: